Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has written his autobiography titled And Then One Day. Shah, who will be at the Times LitFest, spoke with Srijana Mitra Das about art films, acting schools, being candid — and Dilip Kumar versus Amitabh Bachchan:

You write with cynicism about 1970s’ art cinema which you’re closely identified with — why?

I’ve lambasted the art film but that’s misinterpreted as if i’m saying good cinema shouldn’t be made. Am i an idiot to say that? My complaint was, art filmmakers were basically making the same film again and again — how does that make them different from a Nasir Hussain or Manmohan Desai? Directors like Desai were also talking about subjects like the rights of millworkers and peasants. So, your film should be different in the craft, in your cinematic sensibility. I didn’t really see too much of that in many 1970s’ filmmakers.

Looking back, i realise a lot were marking time before they got an opportunity to make a commercial film. Most 1970s films were not made out of conviction — they were made out of convenience.

Dilip Kumar’s contribution is immense. He was fortunate to work with great filmmakers, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, K Asif. When he became bigger than the film, that’s when his decline began, post-the magnificent Ganga Jamuna.

Amitabh continued Dilip Kumar’s tradition and bettered that school of acting. I consider him a better actor to Dilip Kumar because he sustained it longer. He’s proved himself capable of playing all sorts of parts. I just wish he’d backed more than popcorn movies. He was in a position to change the industry. Obviously, he didn’t want to. But there’s no denying his greatness as an actor.

Yet, Dilip Kumar’s contribution is more because he ensured a nationwide audience for the Bimal Roys.

You mention encounters with drugs candidly — was that easy to do?

I did worry about whether some kids might emulate my example — which is why i write clearly i’m not an example worth emulating. I didn’t feel embarrassment because it’s the truth. If i didn’t write the truth, what’s the point of writing my life story?

I may as well have written fiction.

You write of a book on acting — is that next?

Well, Stanislavski, Peter Brooks, etc, have written tomes on acting but Stanislavski doesn’t necessarily apply here. I’d like to write a handbook for training actors in India.

The way actors are trained in India is downright damaging to them. Acting schools have sprouted like mushrooms and teach young actors all the wrong things. They reinforce the rubbishy notion that acting consists only of crying and laughing — it makes my blood boil.

I want to write about a systematic method by which actors should be trained and that acting involves a lot more than just emoting.

I don’t have all the answers — but i do have a few.

The Times LitFest will be held in Mumbai from December 5-7. See: www.timeslitfest.com